Philip bosche



(No Model.)

P. BOSCHE.

GAME.

No. 431,762. l Patented July 8, 1890.

A TTOHNE YS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP BOSCHE, OF CORTLAND, NEW YORK.

GAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,762, dated July 8,1890. Application filed December 17, 1889. Serial No. 334,012. `(Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP BosoHE, of Cortland, in the county ofCortland and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Games,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a game, and has for its object to provide a toybase-ball field, by the manipulation of which a ball, block, or cuberepresenting a player may be made to travel, in accordance with certainrules, around the field; and the invention consists in the novelconstruction and combination of the several parts, as will behereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in both the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the game-board,

and Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line :c

of Fig. 1.

. In carrying out the invention I prefer to` construct the boardsubstantially in the shape of a box, as shown in the drawings, which boxis made up of a base or bottom 10, sides 11 and ends 12, and the saidbox is also preferably covered at its top by a pane of glass 13 or othertransparent material. The bottom of the box represents the field, andupon the said field a diamond 14 is arranged ordinarily in the followingmanne/r: The sides of the diamond are formed by producing ribs 15 uponthe eld, which ribs may form an integral portion of the bottom or beattached thereto. The ribs at each side are two in number, and areplaced parallel, so as to form a depressed space or runway 16 betweenthem. These ribs extend to within a short distance of each corner of thediamond, where they unite with a solid embossed surface 17. The embossedsurfaces 17 represent the bases, and the depressed spaces 16 the pathbetween the bases.

In the home-plate 1S, which is formed in similar manner as the bases,butslightly larger, a depression or cavity 19 is produced, and withinthe diamond, extending from the home-plate, two parallel ribs 20 areformed upon the bottom 10 of the board, the space between which ribsrepresents the pitchers box; and fora purpose hereinafter described anembossed hollow square 21 may also be formed upon the bottom of the boxwithin the diamond, one side of which square forms the lower boundary ofthe pitchers box above referred to.

In connection with the board I employ ordinarily a globule of mercury23, or a small ball, cube, or similar article, and sometimes a globuleof mercury and a single ball 24 are employed in playing the game, asillustrated in the drawings.

I desire it to be understood thatI do not confine myself to thearrangement of the diamond upon the bottom of the box, as the diamondmay be substituted by a race-track, or the iield may be laid out in suchmanner that any other game than base-ball may be played.

In operation, when the globule of mercury or a single ball is employed,the game is started by placing the globule of quicksilver or the ball ormarble in the center of the pitchers box. The board is now tilted by theoperator in such manner as to work the globule or ball into the cavity19 at the home-plate, and then around the diamond over the embossedbases, and again stopping in the said cavity 19. Ifsuccessfullyaccomplished Without allowing the quicksilver or marble to leave thespaces or paths 16, or the bases themselves, the game is ended. In theevent of a failure to make the complete circle of the diamond, theoperator must start again in the center of the pitchers box. A regulargame of base-ball can be played by two parties representing the nines bycalling every successful attempt to lodge the quick silver in thehome-plate cavity a hit, and every unsuccessful attempt a strike, threestrikes an out, and so on, following the rules of base-ball as nearly aspossible, after ahit is made, proceeding as in the outstart of the game.

If the path from the home-plate is safely traveled to the first base,and said base is passed and the globule or ball should leave the trackbefore the second base is reached, the hit is intended to be a safe one,and the player is entitled to hold first base; and if the path betweenthe home-plate and second base is safely traveled, and the first andsecond bases safely crossed, and the ball or globule should leave thetrack between the Second and third bases, but fail to cross the thirdbase, the player is entitled to keep the second base, and so on. Therecord of the bases may be kept by inserting pins in apertures producedin the top of the box at its corners, or in any other suitable orapproved manner.

When the globule of mercury and a single ball or marble are used inplaying the game, the marble is placed in the square 2l at the end ofthe pitchers box and the globule of mercury in the pitchers box; and inorder to make any successful play, the mercury globule being operated asheretofore described, the ball or marble must not leave the square 21. iHaving thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a game, the combination of a box-like structurehaving a diamond produced on its bottom, the diamond being formed ofparallel and spaced ribs 15, forming runways 16 between them, and solidembossed corner-surfaces 1'7 18, the corner 18, having a depression 19produced therein, and parallel and spaced ribs 20, extending inwardtherefrom, the space between the ribs forming the pitchers box, and aglobule of mercury adapted to travel in the space between the'ribs andover the embossed corner-surfaces, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described game-board, consisting of a box-like structurehaving a glass p cover and provided on its bottom with the Ydiamond 14,formed of the spaced ribs 15 and corner embossed surfaces 17 and 18, thecorner 18, having a depression 19, the spaced ribs 20, leading inwardfrom the corner 18, and the hollow square 21 at the end of the ribs 20,substantially as herein shown and described. Y

PHILIP BOSCHE. Witnesses:

1-1. N. MESSENGER, WM. D. TUTTLE.

